


Stardust

by Megabyte4269



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-13 08:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9115714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megabyte4269/pseuds/Megabyte4269
Summary: This is the story of A New Hope and later ESB and RTJ if Cassian, Jyn, and Bodhi had been able to make it off Scariff alive.  It follows them as they work with the Rebellion to defeat the Empire.





	1. Return to the Rebel Base

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize now for any grammar mistakes. I hope you enjoy the first chapter. I know it's a little slow, but it mostly set up and will get faster soon.

After Rogue One  
  
  


The Beginning:  
  
  
The heat on the beach was like nothing that Jyn had experienced before and it only kept rising as she hugged Cassian tight to her chest. She kept her eyes forced shut in an effort to forget about the world crumbling around her. Each moment dragged on in agony as she waited for the destruction to wash over them and destroy any record of her existence from the galaxy; the only comfort she had was that the plans had been successfully transmitted off the planet to the Rebellion fleet.  
  
  
“I have never felt heat like this before,” she murmured into Cassian’s chest.  
  
  
“This is nothing compared to the Dune Sea on Tattooine,” he said in an attempt to make her laugh. A small smile spread across her face before it was replaced with a look of sadness.  
  
  
“I’m afraid,” Jyn spoke softly, barely loud enough for Cassian to hear. Cassian’s heart broke for her in this moment. Cassian had seen friends taken by the Empire to be tortured before being brutally executed; he knew that this end would be much easier than dying at the hand of Krennic’s dogs or even Vader’s hand. Still he too had the same dread creep into his heart even though he had accepted they would die in this mission before landing on Scariff.  
  
  
“I am too,” Cassian replied not fully knowing how to comfort her. His time at the Rebellion had mostly been spent as a spy, never was he given a chance to learn to comfort anyone. All of his life he trained to limit his personal attachments and focus on the great cause at hand. His one vice had been K2. K2 was a droid. Although he had been very lifelike he still was not human and could not be considered a weakness; Cassian would never fear for K2’s death because he could not truly die. Each of his deaths could result in simply loading his data into a new body and his friend would come alive once more. Jyn was different though. He felt drawn to her initially because of her fire and courage, but now it was because he identified with her. He had met someone much like him.  
  
  
The pair hugged each other even closer as they prepared for their last moments. Standing there with their eyes clenched shut they felt the wind pick up around them and they knew the moment had finally come. But then it didn’t.  
  
  
“Climb inside!” a voice shouted at them. Opening their eyes and letting go of one another they saw Krennic’s ship behind them on the sand with a few Rebellion soldiers ushering them inside. Cassian grabbed on Jyn for support as he limped forward with her towards the shuttle. Once inside the Rebellion soldiers quickly closed the hatch and within seconds were speeding away from the mass extinction that awaited the planet. In all likelihood they would still be destroyed by debris from the exploding planet, but this certainly gave them more of a fighting chance than standing on the beach enjoying the sunset did.  
  
  
“We’re not out of the woods just yet,” one of them said to Jyn before running back up to the cockpit. Jyn helped Cassian over to the seats that hung on the sides of the walls and sat down right next to him. They sat for a moment and held hands feeling the relief wash over their bodies and the tension they had kept for days finally dissipated.  
  
  
“Strap In! We’re making the jump to hyperspace!” someone yelled from the cockpit. There were only five other Rebellion soldiers in the back with Jyn and Cassian and they all looked terrified. They kept to the other end of the ship as they strapped in leaving Jyn and Cassian alone to the rear.  
  
  
“Do you think we’ll make it?” Cassian asked resting his head on the wall.  
  
  
“I don’t know, but we have hope,” Jyn answered quietly. A smile spread across Cassian’s face as he recalled what he had told her about the Rebellion. The next few minutes before the jump to hyperspace passed in agony as they felt space pieces of what had jump been a planet crash into from behind. Then as suddenly as the pounding had begun it was over and an eerie quiet overtook the whole ship before a sudden burst of cheers.  
  
  
“We made it!” one soldier screamed as he unbuckled himself and began dancing around the ship’s cargo area. The other four soon joined him and even the copilot ran down from the cockpit to join in the celebration. Jyn knew that she should be happy to get up and dance with the rest of them, but the shadow of everything that had just happened had fallen over her. Over two hundred Rebellion soldiers had landed on Scariff in their foolhardy attempt to steal the plans, and here only seven remained. She also thought of K2, Baze, Chirrut, and poor Bodhi. They had all died for the plans that she had decided to steal. In her heart Jyn knew that it was she that should have been burned to death on that planet and not any of them. They had been bystanders that she had pulled into this mess.  
  
  
“Can you find a first aid kid?” she heard Cassian whisper from beside her. Looking over at him she now realized the amount of pain he must be in. His leg was twisted at an odd angle and he had been shot by Krennic’s blaster. The fading color of his face suggested that he would soon pass out from the pain that was now catching up to him as the adrenaline faded.  
  
  
“Can somebody help me?” Jyn shouted. She now kneeled in front of Cassian as he lost consciousness and slumped forward into the straps that held him into place on the wall. She tapped him face gently over and over hoping to get some response from him, but the attempt proved futile. The soldiers gathered around her with one coming forwards with a first aid bag. They opened it feeling hopeful only to realize that they did not know how to use much of what was inside it.  
  
  
“Does anyone know how to apply this?” Jyn asked taking out a pain reliever salve.  
  
  
“I do. The empire made sure all the pilots knew how to use everything in that bag,” a voice said from the far side of the room. Jyn turned slowly in awe of the voice that she had just heard. Bodhi. Bodhi had been the pilot that had navigated their way off of Scariff.  
  
  
Without saying another word everyone cleared away as Bodhi made his way quickly over to Cassian. He released him from the wall straps and lowered him gently to the floor with one of the soldier’s jackets as a pillow. He set to work quickly applying the salve and adding anything else that was absolutely necessary to Cassian actually staying alive. He was not a doctor and unfortunately could do little to treat the blaster wound and broken leg, but he could keep both of them from getting any worse.  
  
  
“We need to get back to Yavin as quickly as possible,” he said after about a quarter hour of working silently.  
  
  
“We’re still about ten hours from home,” one of the rebel soldiers barked loudly from the cockpit. Jyn sat by Cassian’s head holding a cold towel to his forehead to keep him from overheating. Even with the cold of space his body was far too warm and she hoped the fever would break soon.  
  
  
  
“You needn’t worry, Jyn. Cassian will live until then,” Bodhi reassured her.  
  
  
“I thought you were dead,” she said quietly after a moment.  
  
  
“The empire threw a grenade in our ship. A rebel soldier threw himself on top of it and absorbed the impact, by all account I should be.” Jyn moved her hand off of Cassian forehead and patted Bodhi comfortingly. Now that her own adrenaline was wearing off Jyn began to feel the tiredness wash over her as she sat next to Bodhi on the floor. Her eyes drooped shut and she could barely lift her arms to keep brushed Cassian’s hair out of his face.  
  
  
“Get some sleep, Jyn. I’ll come check on him soon, but there is really not else I can do for him. I’m going to go catch some sleep in the cockpit,” Bodhi said after noticing her exhaustion. Jyn smiled in thanks as she slid down onto the hard floor next to Cassian. Space always felt cold and she moved closer to Cassian for warmth before slipping away into sleep.  
  
  


The Base:  
  
  
The explosion. Her father lying dead on the floor. Cassian falling after Krennic shot him. These things echoed over and over in Jyn’s dreams, tormenting her without respite. She tossed and turned violently trying to break free from sleep, but something would not allow her. She was trapped reliving the most traumatic moments of her last few days over and over again in her mind, until suddenly she snapped awake.  
  
  
When Jyn finally opened her still tired eyes she found herself off Krennic’s ship and in the sickbay of the Rebellion’s base on Yavin IV. Cots covered almost every inch of floor space in the giant room with only tiny pathways left through them for the nurses to use. Most lay empty at the moment and she found herself on the far back wall of the room. In the cot next to her Cassian lay sleeping with a million different tubes sticking out of him as well as bandages over his upper body and a cast over his leg. Jyn looked down only to see an IV in her own arm and that someone had changed her out of her destroyed clothes and into a thin hospital gown. Now her drug induced nightmares made sense because she had always had terrible dreams when sleeping on painkillers. Her ankle as was wrapped in a bandage although she could not remember actually hurting it.  
  
  
“Glad to see you’re awake, Miss Erso,” a deep voice said from her other side. She looked over to see a tall man with graying hair standing over her.  
  
  
“How is he?” she asked. Her mind was completely overtaken by her worry that Cassian would survive. Her last memory of him was him unconscious on the floor with a high fever and sorely in need of medical attention. She hoped that this man would be the doctor or would know enough to tell her the truth about her friend.  
  
  
“He will survive. We’ve had him in a bacta tank for the better part of a day before bringing him back here and it seems to be working. Now the most important thing for him would be rest,” the older man assured her. He scooted the cot next to her closer to her own cot and sat down before leaning forward to examine her ankle. Jyn felt uncomfortable about his not asking permission first, but felt she might injure herself further if she were to kick him.  
  
  
“I don’t remember hurting my ankle,” she admitted after a moment while eyeing him warily.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t imagine spraining your ankle would’ve seemed very important while you were on Scariff,” he chuckled.  
  
  
“How long have I been here?” she asked. The dreams felt as though they had taken years and also just a few seconds so she could not gauge an accurate amount of time on her own.  
  
  
“Almost three days now. When your ship landed you hardly even moved when Bodhi carried you off. I have never seen someone sleep quite that deeply, but I assume you must have been very tired. Immediately after that I assumed care and placed you on the pain medicine that kept you asleep. Your Captain Andor required a little more attention so after knocking you out I have spent the next three days trying to keep him alive. The leg is merely cosmetic, but blaster wounds can be quite nasty if left untreated for long, and the amount of sand that was in it certainly did not help,” he explained.  
  
  
“He is not my captain,” Jyn chided softly under her breath, but the doctor did not appear to hear her or did not respond if he did.  
  
  
“I’ll be placing your friend back in the bacta tank now. During the meantime Mon Mothma would like to see you,” he said busying himself taking the IVs out of Cassian. It hurt Jyn to even think of leaving his side for a moment, yet seeing Mon Mothma would be far more important that gazing on as he received treatment. She sat up quickly then upon feeling dizziness she dropped back down onto her pillow. After waiting a moment she tried again to sit up, just slower this time, and was able to move herself to the edge of the bed placing her feet on the floor. Seemingly out of nowhere a female doctor appeared in front of her carrying a set of old crutches. It worried Jyn that her senses had dulled enough for the new doctor to appear in front of her with no apparent warning; though she knew this effect would lessen as the drugs wore off.  
  
  
Taking the crutches without a word Jyn nodded her thanks to the doctor and practiced using them in front of her bed to adjust the height correctly. She turned back to look at Cassian one last time before shuffling away slowly towards the bustling hallways of the Rebel Base. By the time she reached the doorway her armpits already hurt from the lack of cushion on the crutches leaving her wishing to be back in bed. She quickly forced away these invasive thoughts and continued on down the wide hallway with people running back and forth in a hurried manor. Realizing that neither of the doctors had actually told her where to find Mon Mothma, Jyn looked around for the room that she had met her in before the mission on Scariff. Unfortunately for Jyn she had not visited the sickbay before and had entirely no idea where she was going. Taking a guess she headed right in the direction that most of the traffic flowed until she found a room that looked familiar. After about half an hour of wandering the halls fruitlessly she stumbled upon a place she recognized.  
  
  
“I hope your ankle is healing nicely. I was told that was your only major injury,” Mon Mothma said when Jyn walked into the room. She beckoned Jyn to follow her as she headed into an adjacent room that proved much more private that the meeting area outside.  
  
  
“I haven’t actually tried walking on it yet, ma’am,” Jyn replied immediately feeling stupid. Mon Mothma stood facing away from Jyn looking a screen on the wall that contained a list of what appeared to be coordinates, but their use was not apparent to her. If the woman in front of her had that comments ignorant she had not let on because she barely seemed to be paying attention.  
  
  
“It is out of respect for your sacrifice, not duty, that I tell you the following information. The Death Star plans were placed in the safe keeping of Princess Leia of Alderaan, daughter of Bail Organa. Mere hours after receiving the plans Darth Vader intercepted her ship and took custody of Leia. The location of the plans remains unknown. I can assure you we are doing everything in our power to recover them.” Jyn stood in complete and utter shock, unable to believe what she had just heard. The plans that so many had given their lives to steal had been taken from them. Their lives wasted. Baze’s life wasted. Chirrut’s life wasted. Her father’s life wasted.  
  
  
“They died for nothing,” she stammered after a minute while clenching her fists in an attempt to control the anger building inside of her. In her mind flashes the images of her dead father on the ground and Cassian dying on the floor of Krennic’s shuttle. Cassian had tricked her into believing that fighting for the Rebellion could be a noble cause, but what had it brought except useless death. No wonder the Empire had been able to flourish for so many years considering the Rebellion did not have the competence to actually hold onto the one advantage gifted to them.  
  
  
“You must learn to fight for less selfish reasons, Jyn Erso. Your friends gave their lives for a chance to defeat the evil we face, a just cause,” she told her. The calmness in the woman’s voice only succeeded in making Jyn angrier rather than quelling her temper. She could not accept that simply because a cause was just any loss of life towards it, not matter how futile, was a price worth paying.  
  
  
“And please tell me why their lives were not wasted on a suicide mission and you now have thrown away our one advantage against the Empire?” Jyn screamed punching her fists into the table directly in front of her. Only now did Mon Mothma turn to face her.  
  
  
“You seem to forget that I did not send you on this suicide mission; you chose to go yourself. I would also like to remind you, Miss Erso, that you are not the only person to lose friends during this war. Millions lost loved ones to the Empire; you are not unique. If the Rebellion had been built by soldiers like you we would be focused on nothing but revenge not freedom. You have lost many friends now, but you will lose many more before this fight will be won. Instead of using this to fuel your selfish hate, use it to…” Mon Mothma was cut off in the middle of her speech by a young officer running into the room with a terrified expression on his face.  
  
  
“Alderaan, it’s gone,” he said before rushing back out of the room.  
  
  
“As I said, millions,” she said before leaving Jyn standing alone in the quiet room. A sinking feeling developed in her chest because she knew the weight of what those words had meant. The Empire had used the Death Star once again, but this time on innocents and not their own base. Her father’s invention had killed millions more now; Jyn felt that guilt.  
  
  
The room outside became increasingly frenzied with every second as Jyn made the arduous journey out and back into the hallway. Part of her wished that she would be able to stay and listen to everything that was happening, but she knew that she would not be welcome. She had only come to the Rebellion two weeks ago and had not yet earned any kind of trust, especially after her conversation with Mon Mothma. Every corner she turned on her way back she encountered people crying or people that looked as if the life had been taken from their eyes. Finding her way to the sickbay she saw that Cassian was back in his bed…and awake.  
  
  
“It’s good to see you, Jyn,” he said quietly as she approached him. He had a small sweet smile on his face and his eyes looked bright and alive. His expression changed when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes as she limped towards him. Putting on her best smile she wiped her eyes and tried to appear happy.  
  
  
“How do you feel?” she asked with feigned excitement.  
  
  
“Jyn, what happened?”  
  
  
“You should get some rest,” she insisted while backing away from his bed. Cassian caught her arm and looked at her earnestly.  
  
  
“We’ve lost, Cassian. We’ve lost…” she whispered looking down at her feet.  
  
  
“We still live, Jyn. Tell me how could we have lost yet?” Jyn felt sorry for his optimism that she knew she would have to entirely crush.  
  
  
“The plans have been intercepted. The Empire destroyed Alderaan. I do not see what chance we stand now,” she admitted. The heaviness of the situation shocked Cassian and he felt somehow off balance from a moment ago. He had thought maybe she meant their loss had been the loss of their friends on Scariff, not the collapse of the Rebellion. He reminded himself that this did not necessarily mean that the Rebellion would collapse. It may have lost a major advantage, but that did not mean anything. They could wait. Wait until the Empire had grown complacent again before readying a strike. They could resume their actions stirring up resentment among oppressed inhabitants of poorer star systems. No. Alderaan’s loss would not spell the end of the Rebellion, nor the loss of the plans. The Death Star could destroy planets, but it did not know the location of the Rebel base.  
  
  
“Captain Andor, you are cleared to be discharged and return to your quarters,” a doctor said interjecting in their conversation. Cassian nodded to the doctor and slid his feet on his bed onto the floor next to Jyn. He winced when standing and only now Jyn noticed a metal brace that wrapped around his entire leg and bandages peeking out from under his shirt. In all the excitement for the moment she had forgotten that he was still very much injured.  
  
  
“I hate sickbays. Would you like to go somewhere else?” Cassian asked her hopefully. Jyn never minded sickbays because it meant she was somewhere that had enough resources to actually have a sickbay as opposed to performing amputations on a kitchen table. In her life she had only even been in one other place that had a sickbay and it was the Empire base she had lived at with her parents when she was very young, but she thought she had better not mention that to anyone here. In fact her time at that base had been some of the happiest moments of her life because her mother and father had been safe and often happy. She knew now that they had not been happy, but their life there did not come with the overhanging fear each day of the Empire finding them.  
  
  
They moved slowly through the hallways limping along at a snail’s pace because of their injured appendages. Gradually they distanced themselves from the hustle and bustle of the main meeting areas in the building into quieter more secluded hallways. The doors in the narrower hallways appeared closer together now indicating small rooms, like living quarters instead of large halls or ship holds. Dim artificial light cast a yellow glow on the stone surroundings and no trace of the outside world could be found. Finally they arrived at a door that looked very much the same as every other, but this time Cassian stopped.  
  
  
“I apologize for the mess. I didn’t bother to clean before I left for Jedha,” he explained as the door slide open. Inside the room clothes were thrown across a bed that looked as though it had been carved out of the wall on the left hand side. Shelves were also carved in above and below the bed and they had been filled with food and other personal belongings. Although the room appeared full there was nothing that outright claimed it as Cassian’s. No pictures hung on the walls nor set around on the shelves. The right side of the tiny room had a table that was covered with boxes that Jyn had no idea what they could contain. Overall the room felt small and cluttered, not exactly what she had been expecting from him. Although Jyn felt no ill will for the sickbay she already felt more comfortable surrounded by four close walls that shoved into a corner of a giant room lacking privacy.  
  
  
“The bathrooms are conveniently right across the hall from us,” he informed her. Cassian limped into his room and settled himself down on the edge of his bed. Jyn followed him into the room and jumped as the door slide shut behind her trapping her alone with him inside.  
  
  
“How long have you lived here?” she asked making conversation. She struggled to keep focused on interacting when her mind kept being pulled towards worrying about the lost plans and the state of the Rebellion’s future.  
  
  
“About two years actually. Although I have spent little time here between going undercover in many systems,” he elaborated. Cassian too felt it hard to concentrate on answering her with all that had just happened. He felt himself staring around the room wondering how much longer he would get to call it his own before running or if he would in fact die here very soon.  
  
  
“We’re going to die here…” Jyn said after a minute of silence, more to herself than to Cassian.  
  
  
“The Death Star can’t destroy us if they don’t know where to find us, Jyn,” Cassian reminded her. Jyn shook her head and looked down at her feet with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
  
“If they recovered the plans I am sure that they were not stupid enough to kill the entire crew without questioning them. I have little faith in anyone’s ability to stand up to torture,” she said matter-of-factly.  
  
  
“I am sure there is more information that we do not know. If there was a chance that this base has been compromised then Mon Mothma would have already sounded a retreat. She would not wait for us to be like banthas led to slaughter.” Jyn hoped in her heart that what he said was true, but she could not so easily believe this without adequate proof. Perhaps the Rebellion lifestyle did not match with her life of constant running until she trapped in the labor camps.  
  
  
“I do not have the blind faith in the Rebellion that you do, Cassian,” she snapped immediately regretting her words.  
  
  
“What you call blind faith I call twenty years of experience. What do you have, Jyn? You have known the Rebellion for two weeks. Before this you have had no family, no support. You would have died in the labor camps if my Rebellion hadn’t deemed you worthy to save. Your life served no purpose and you only thought about yourself. I have trust in something so much bigger than myself. We are not the Empire; we do not throw away lives as if they mean nothing. But we are also not stupid and naïve as you seem to think, and if we were how would we have survived for twenty years,” he said his voice steadily rising in volume. Jyn stepped back towards the door hoping it would open as she got near and she would not have to turn to look for the switch. She wished to run from Cassian’s stinging words just as she had run from everything in her life. Since being abandoned by Saw she had felt no loyalty or trust towards anyone or anything, and to even think of giving that to anyone again felt impossible. On Scariff she had felt so much hope in the Rebellion when she transmitted those plans, but now that they were gone and her mission meaningless in her eyes she felt lost.  
  
  
“Jyn, don’t leave,” Cassian said softly as he watched her squirm in front of him. He felt terrible for allowing the stress of this knew knowledge translate into anger towards Jyn. He understood her point of view; she had not lived her life with the Rebellion like he had. Cassian waved his hand beckoning her over towards the bed with him. Timidly she edged her way over glancing back at the door every couple seconds before finally sitting down next to him. Her ankle felt relief and she had just now noticed she had been standing on it since they had arrived and it hurt quite considerably. Cassian scooted back on the bed so that his back rested against the wall in the alcove with his feet stretched out in front of him. He motioned for Jyn to do the same and after a moment she joined him with their shoulders pressed against each other.  
  
  
“My father created the Death Star, Cassian. Each life that it takes falls upon his shoulders and then upon mine. I feel such guilt that my father created the beast that will destroy the Rebellion. And I know it may make you angry to hear this, but I do not trust the Rebellion to be able to stop it,” she told him honestly. Cassian wrapped his hands around hers and held them tightly in her lap.  
  
  
“I don’t either, Jyn, but the hope that they can is all that I have to cling to. I cannot lose that.”  
  
  



	2. Fight Against the Death Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again sorry for the bad grammar. I also apologize because I can't figure out how to do the spacing correctly on here.

Early the next morning Cassian rose from the edge of the bed to leave for his last time in the bacta tank. Jyn slept soundlessly inside the far edge of the bed curled in upon herself leaving her back to Cassian. Even though the bed was narrow Jyn had stayed so far to the edge she had not touched Cassian since they had fallen asleep staring at the ceiling. Even though she had wanted to reach out and touch him Jyn felt afraid that any move on her part would possibly hurt him because of how injured he still was. Cassian looked back at her sleeping peacefully before exiting the room. Along the way to the sickbay he hoped that their closeness would not fade now that imminent death didn’t hang out their heads. He smiled sadly as he remembered how tightly they had held each other the moment before they thought they would die, and now she stayed far from him.   
  
Jyn had woken up when Cassian had left that morning, but had remained with her back to him and continued to pose as asleep. She still felt the sting of their last conversation together and she felt nervous about talking to him again. Now that Cassian had left Jyn felt ready to go explore the base in search of Bodhi and find something to eat. She was starving. She navigated the halls retracing the steps that Cassian had taken her the day before to find the main hallways back to the largest docking bay. When she walked inside she marveled at the expanse and the number of old x-wing and y-wing fighters ready to take off at a moment’s notice. She was unable to shake the realization that these were the ships that had killed her father.   
  
“Jyn!” She heard someone shout at her from across the room and it pulled her out of her own thoughts back to the present. Looking over to the voice she saw Bodhi waving his hands above his head and motioning her to join him with a group of Rebel soldiers. She instantly recognized them as the very five that had escaped Scariff and saved her.   
  
“I came to see you a couple of times, but you and Cassian were both unconscious. They didn’t tell me you were awake. We were just heading to get some breakfast if you want to join us,” Bodhi offered. Jyn graciously accepted and followed quietly behind the group as they chatted among themselves. She noticed that Bodhi too remained very quiet and figured that these soldiers had known each other much longer and had more to talk about. After collecting breakfast from a long buffet line in an adjoining room they walked back to where Jyn had first seen them and settled down on the floor in a circle. Bodhi had carried her food for her because she still used the crutches, but was much faster with them now. They also did not hurt as much because Cassian had secured two of his shirts to the arms so that they would not cut into her armpits.   
  
“How is Captain Andor?” one of the soldiers asked as they sat down. She appeared to be a little older than Jyn with shiny brown hair braided out of her face.   
  
“He is recovering well and today is his last day in bacta,” she answered curtly.   
  
“I should introduce everyone,” Bodhi said motioning around him. He gestured to each person in the group individually giving their names. The brown haired girl was named Tia. Next to her sat twenty-five year old twin brothers, Rian and Caleb, with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. Next came Tanya with dark skin and her perfect almond shaped brown eyes. Last came Tiberius, nicknamed Ty, who was slightly older than the rest at thirty and had the scars to show his experience. Jyn greeted each of them in turn and felt surprised at how young the entire group was considering the age range in Rebellion soldiers.   
  
“Their stories are amazing, Jyn, you should hear them. Tanya was born on Coruscant and has actually survived being in the same room as Darth Vader,” Bodhi said excitedly. Tanya looked a little embarrassed by this.   
  
“Bodhi makes it seem more exciting than it actually is. A few years ago I was a spy in an Imperial Base and the commander of the base made a serious mistake. It was a surreal experience because Darth Vader came to personally visit and inspect. We all had to pretend nothing was happening as he chocked the commander to death. It was one of the most horrifying moments of my life,” she explained. Jyn felt amazed and thought that even in that circumstance she was amazed that Tanya had been able to evade discovery because Vader was said to be able to read minds.   
  
“Then Tia is the daughter of a handmaiden of a queen. And she apparently met the queen when she was a baby,” he continued after Tanya finished her story. Jyn felt her spirits rise slightly because Bodhi’s pure joy proved infectious to be around. She noticed too that the other five seemed in better spirits that most everyone else around them in the compound.   
  
“There are many queens in the galaxy, Bodhi, one is not as special as it seems,” she said turning red with embarrassment.   
  
“Which star system?” Jyn asked out of curiosity.   
  
“Naboo,” she answered quietly. Jyn remembered her father speaking of Naboo many times when he spoke of the resistance before the rise of the Empire. She knew that their royalty had all been executed when they were conquered by Vader and his troops. Based on how old that Tia appeared she may have even witnessed this event.   
  
“I can’t believe you’re downplaying this, Tia! Your mother is one of the Rebellion generals because of her connections to the old Senate,” Bodhi said exasperated.   
  
“My mother is Sabe, handmaiden to Queen Amidala.” Tia refused to say more even after an earnest look by Bodhi, but he appeared to have realized he shouldn’t push the matter any longer. Although Jyn knew of Naboo the name Amidala meant little to her because she not been queen at the end of the Clone Wars, but she understood she must have been important.   
  
“I feel I should thank you all…for saving Cassian and me,” Jyn said breaking the silence. Small smiles spread across all of their faces except for Tia, who still seemed strained from her last words.   
  
“Cassian is like a brother to me. I had to save him when given the chance,” Tia spoke softly. “He’s a little bit of a legend to us mere soldiers. He’s been a spy since he was a child and a little too intimidating for us to actually talk to. Except for Tia here. She’s never been afraid,” Rian said with a laugh while patting Tia on the back. These words seemed to breathe life back into the girl and she actually wore a smile on her face for the first time.   
  
“Because of my mother I was raised on rebel bases and Cassian was the only other child in the entire camp. We played together as children and fought together as adults,” she explained. Jyn felt a pang of jealousy when Tia spoke of Cassian with such softness and familiarity.   
  
Everyone finished up their breakfast quickly with little chit chat and broke off to return to their own jobs leaving Bodhi and Jyn sitting together alone. Jyn felt uneasy just sitting there and hoped that she would find something to spend her time doing for the rest of the day.   
  
“They’ve offered to let me officially join the Rebellion as a pilot. I would start out with the transport ships, but if I prove myself I could even work up to flying an X-wing,” he told her excitedly.   
  
“That’s fantastic, Bodhi,” she told him happily.   
  
“Sorry about Tia earlier. I heard from her story for Rian actually not her and didn’t know she was so secretive about it. Rian told me that her mom was more than just your standard handmaiden. They were trained to fight and chosen because of their similarity in looks to the queen and Sabe even impersonated the Queen when she was thought to be in danger. Her mother actually knew the Jedi!” he chattered on barely acknowledging she had spoken to him. Suddenly a young man that had told Mon Mothma about Alderaan appeared behind Jyn and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.   
  
“Ma’am, Mon Mothma requests your presence,” he informed her. Bidding Bodhi a quick goodbye she followed the young man back towards the room she had argued with Mon Mothma only the day before. Once she entered the room the man left leaving her alone with Mon Mothma and the other members from the council she remembered from before the Rogue One mission. One woman dark haired woman was new to the crowd. Jyn realized she might be Tia’s mother because they bore a strong resemblance and something about this woman conveyed poise that might have been indicative of her supposed background.   
  
“Miss Erso, I asked you hear to discuss your knowledge of the Death Star,” Mon Mothma told her as she walked in the door.   
  
“What can you tell us of the Death Star’s weakness?” The woman she assumed to be Sabe asked this question before anyone else could speak.   
  
“My father told me that if you hit the main reactor it will set off a chain reaction to destroy the entire station,” Jyn said repeating her father’s words.   
  
“How can we trust this information without the proof of the plans, Miss Erso?” the woman countered.   
  
“I think she has done enough to earn our trust, Sabe,” snapped one of the other members. Jyn felt shocked that Sabe would not accept her words after everything she had given at Scariff. If that had not convinced her then what possible actions could?   
  
“Forgive me, Titus, for not believing that everyone is exactly as they seem. I have more experience in this area than you do,” Sabe said her words icy. Jyn knew that this argument had too much history for her to get involved, though she couldn’t help but be curious.   
  
“Did your father tell you anything about how to access the main reactor? Or how to set off the chain reaction?” Mon Mothma asked taking the conversation away from Sabe and Titus.   
  
“No, I wish I knew more. I am sorry…” she apologized.   
  
“We need to know anything you remember,” another member insisted. Jyn suddenly realized why she must be standing here. The plans were lost and they needed any advantage they could against the Death Star. Their asking her today meant one thing. The Death Star was coming.   
  
Jyn became lost in thought her entire walk back to Cassian’s room from the room full of arguing council members. She had been ushered out as an urgent message came through from a ship known as the Millennium Falcon on route to Yavin. Stepping back into the room she found Cassian asleep on his bed with his leg brace, but minus the bandages on his upper body. 

“I heard you met with the council again today. How did it go?” he said without opening his eyes.   
  
“I have a bad feeling about this, Cassian. I think the Death Star is going to find us faster than we anticipated,” she explained.   
  
“It seems the fate we escaped is catching up with us, Jyn,” he laughed in reply.   
  
“Tia asked about you today?” Jyn asked him probing for a response. Despite her impending doom she could not help but wonder about Cassian’s relationship with this sort of mystery girl. Cassian’s eyes popped open and he sat up quickly in the bed at hearing this question.   
  
“How do you know Tia?”   
  
“Bodhi introduced us today. She was on the shuttle that escaped from Scariff with us and was worried about you,” she explained. Cassian did not relax at all from this explanation and remained tensed up on the edge of his bed.   
  
“She and I were close in our youth. The only two children on base and troubled youths at that so we were naturally drawn to each other. I’ll admit I have only spoken to her a handful of times in the past few years,” he mused.   
  
“I met her mother at the council meeting.” Jyn poked at this subject to again gauge his reaction to this.   
  
“Sabe, she is an interesting woman. Most people here fear her, but when I first met her as a children I was not inclined to fear anyone. Her and her daughter are very similar in their black and white way of viewing the world, though I suppose hers is built off of experience,” Cassian said thoughtfully.   
  
“She snapped at the council member, Titus. She claimed to not be so naïve as to trust what I had to say even after everything that’s happened.” Jyn posed this topic to find out more about her past that Bodhi had only know a little about. She understood that anyone as old as Sabe had been an adult during the rise of the Rebellion and therefore most likely had an interesting story to tell.   
  
“Sabe does not trust easily. Everyone knows that she was handmaiden to Queen Amidala and later too when she was a Senator for Naboo. What people do not seem to realize is that during the time of Queen Amidala she interacted a great deal with Senator Palpatine. He would later reveal himself to be a sith lord and become the Emperor. His rise to power betrayed the people of Naboo far more gravely than any others in the galaxy and those who had known him even more so. Everyone she knew was hunted down and murdered by the Empire. In her shoes I would be less inclined to trust as well.”   
  
Jyn was about to reply when they heard shouting and cheering outside of their door in the hallway. Upon opening the door they heard shouts that Princess Leia had returned and the stolen plans were with her. Without hesitation Cassian and Jyn headed out the door together towards the main hold that the new ship had apparently landed in. Relief had flooded through Jyn and Cassians’ bodies at the news of the plans, but they still held out celebration until hearing the full story.   
  
“Erso! With us!” someone barked over the cheering crowd. Jyn craned her head trying to find whoever had said that in all the excitement. Spinning around she still couldn’t see anything until Cassian grabbed her by the waist a lifted her a few feet in the air. At first she only stared down at him in shock before realizing she should actually look around for who had called her. Once she saw the man from Mon Mothma’s office waving her over she motioned for Cassian to let her gently back down to the ground.   
  
“They’ll need your help, Jyn, to decipher the plans and find the weakness,” Cassian told her. He pushed out in front of her and cleared a path gradually towards the council room with her hanging onto the back of his shirt. Pain shot up Jyn’s leg each time she took a step because she had stupidly left her crutches, but at this moment she didn’t even care. At the edge of the room she met up with the man and squeezed Cassian’s hand before leaving him.   
  
The plans to the Death Star had been stretched so that the hologram was at least ten feet in diameter to try and find any weaknesses. Princess Leia stood on the edge near Jyn while the council and weapons experts analyzed the plans without saying much of anything except for an occasional comment. Even though her father had designed the battle station with a fatal flaw he had not been able to make the flaw too obvious for fear of it being fixed. The main reactor seemed almost impossible to access except from the inside or by fire power that they would never get close enough to actually hit with.   
  
“I am sorry about Alderaan, Leia. Your father and mother would be very proud,” Sabe said coming up to stand next to Leia. Jyn was surprised by the tenderness in her voice that she did not imagine would come from the same person that had been so harsh only the previous day.   
  
“I will make them proud once this terror is destroyed, General. The time for mourning has not yet come,” Leia replied without expression. Sabe simply nodded and resumed her position at the council table examining the plans.   
  
“Is their time for anyone to find their way inside to blow it from the inside?” Jyn asked unsure of the timeline of the entire operation .  
  
“Based on its last known coordinates the Death Star will arrive in approximately four hours from now. There is no time to send someone inside with any chance of success. They are on high alert since Scariff,” Mon Mothma explained.   
  
“Their only defense from small fighters is the TIE fighters and we can easily take on their fighters with our own, but not for long because of our numbers,” one man added. Jyn gazed at the plans trying to figure out how her father would have designed this. She stared at the main reactor in the center of the station and saw hundreds of lines that extended out from it into the rest, but then she noticed something strange. One of these lines did not curve or bend; it ran straight to the center from a small exhaust opening on the outside. Her mouth curved into a smile and she stared up at the ceiling sending a silent pray of thanks to her father because he had saved them all.  
  
“Look at this line,” Jyn said pointing to the exhaust line. “It runs from the exterior all the way to the reactor!” The rest of the room came to life buzzing with excitement as they stared at their only hope.   
  
“Could it be hit with our fighters? Its only two meters in diameter based on the plans scale,” Mon Mothma asked the head of the X-wing pilots.   
  
“It would be difficult and the hit would have to be exact, but it could be done,” he answered confidently. Even though their chances of actually being able to navigate their fighters to the mark without being shot down and then make the near impossible shot were slim to none they still felt hope surge through the crowd.   
  
“Commander, gather your troops. We need to brief them,” Leia barked. She gave orders like she had been a general in the army her entire life. The room cleared out quickly leaving only Leia and Jyn standing their without anyone to order like the rest. Leia seemed to deflate as everyone left the room and she was no longer on display. Sadness clouded her pretty face and Jyn felt the urge to comfort her because Jyn understood the pain that came from losing one’s parents.   
  
“What was it like on Scariff? When it was destroyed? I know what it looks like from the sky, but what did it look like from the ground. Did you know it was happening?” Leia choked out. Jyn didn’t know whether she should lie to save her feelings or tell the truth.   
  
“We knew what was happening. The point of initiation contact is destroyed immediately, but it looks like a tidal wave of earth coming towards you. The wave is terrifying, but first you feel the heat. It is the most intense heat that I’ve ever felt in my entire life and it reaches you far before the wave. It will vaporize you before the wave ever reaches you, but it’s not instant. It takes time and that what is the most agonizing,” she explained truthfully. The horror of that day came back to her and Jyn started shaking as she talked about it all because she knew that she could very well witness this same terror again today. Leia stood resolute during the entire explanation trying to keep her face emotionless to stop herself from breaking down entirely.   
  
“Thank you,” Leia said and exited the room immediately leaving Jyn alone. Jyn found her way back to the main docking bay to see many people loading into transport ships. She noticed Bodhi hurrying people into a transport ship and carrying boxes into the back cargo hold. This appeared to be a full evacuation. On the other side of the bay x-wing pilots checked every inch of their ships to ensure they were in perfect condition in an effort to pass time before the Death Star would arrive. She saw Tia suiting up next to an x-wing and her heart jumped into her chest at the thought of her dying after everything she and her mother had already been through. Beside her stood Cassian and they appeared deep in conversation together. Jyn did not want to interrupt, but as soon as Cassian noticed her he nodded goodbye to Tia and headed in her direction.   
  
“The pilots are about to be briefed for their assault. The rumor is that someone found a weakness,” he informed her smugly.   
  
“I think my father referred to it as a feature, not a weakness,” Jyn replied with a laugh.   
  
“They’re already starting the evacuation of the old and young. You’re still injured and could find yourself a place on one of these transports. Bodhi will take you with question.” The way Cassian said this sounded more like orders rather than suggestions.   
  
“I won’t leave before this is all over.” Cassian had been afraid of this answer, but from Jyn he had expected it.   
  
“All pilots to the command room. All pilots to the command room,” echoed over the room. The crowd thinned as she watched the pilots abandon their fighters to join the council for briefing. With a good deal of the people gone to briefing Cassian and Jyn joined in loading up more transport ships. Another message echoed out telling the first wave of transports were clear to leave with only twenty minutes until the Death Star emerged from hyperspace.   
  
“You sure you won’t come?” Bodhi asked her as he got the call to take off. Jyn had never been one for physical signs of affection, but knowing she may never see him again prompted her to hug him.   
  
“Stay safe, Bodhi,” she whispered into his ear before backing away. Bodhi reached out to hug Cassian and then climbed into the transport. With a short wave he turned and the door closed behind him. A moment later the ship powered up and a moment after that Bodhi fly out of the docking bay to rendezvouses with the other transports. Three more calls over the loud speaker and only a trickle of the people still remained in the room and those that did were pilots or other necessary personal. The briefing let out five minutes before the Death Star came out of hyperspace and the pilots ran to their ships. Jyn watched the young man that had arrived with Princess Leia standing next to an x-wing.   
  
“May the force be with you,” an older brown haired man told him. Jyn thought back to Chirrut and his faith in the force and hoped that it would protect them once again. The pilots took off one by one and all that was left now was to pray.   
  
“I am one with the force, and the force is one with me,” Jyn prayed quietly under her breath. She followed Cassian into the control room where Princess Leia and the council monitored the progress of the fighters. They stood in silence and watched as each fighter screamed into the com link that they were going down; their hearts broke for every one of them.   
  
When only five of the fighters remained with five minutes left until the Death Star came into range the council decided that they needed to evacuate themselves if they had any hope to retain the Rebellion’s leadership after this attack. As they each exited the room rushing behind one another Jyn noticed that Sabe stayed stationary by Leia.   
  
“It is time to retreat, General,” Mon Mothma said to her loudly.   
  
“A long time ago I ran from the Empire instead of staying to fight because of my Tia. Today I will stay to fight instead of run for the same reason. I will not leave her,” Sabe said with confidence. Glancing back one last time the rest of the council filed out of the room and a moment later they heard their ship leave the docking bay.   
  
Cassian pulled Jyn with him as he exited the control room out into the hallway and from their out a door onto a balcony. Above them in the sky the Death Star loomed over them just as it had over Scariff only a few short days ago. His hand found hers and he pulled her in close just as they had before.   
  
“Why did you not leave? I know you could have gone with Bodhi too,” she asked him.   
  
“I believe in your father…and you. We can win, Jyn.” The pair stood in silence knowing that their time was running out. As each second ticked by they held each other a little closer just waiting for the familiar wave of heat to rush over them, but it didn’t. Staring up at the sky they witnessed the colossal terror of the Death Star explode. Tears ran down Jyn’s face without her even realizing that she had started to cry. For fifteen years her father had designed the Death Star so that one day she could destroy it, and so today her father’s wish had come true. Even after death her father saved her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter on the plot of A New Hope. Sorry for it being a little slow, but it happens so fast that there isn't a lot to say. I promise more actual adventures during ESB timeline next.


End file.
